NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament

The NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament (officially styled as "Championship" instead of "Tournament") is a tournament to determine the NCAA Division III national champion. It has been held annually from 1975 to 2019 & since 2022, but not played in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 issues.

NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2024 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament
SportBasketball
Founded1975
No. of teams64
CountryNCAA Division III (USA)
Most recent
champion(s)
Trine (2024; 1st title)
Most titlesNorth Park (5 titles)
TV partner(s)CBS Sports Network
Official websiteNCAA.com

From 1996 to 2012 and 2014 to 2018, the NCAA Division III men's basketball championship was held at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Virginia. The event had been hosted by the Old Dominion Athletic Conference and the City of Salem. From 2017 to 2020 & since 2022, the tournament has been a 64-team single-elimination tournament, with teams advancing from four sectionals to the semifinals and final in Fort Wayne.

For 2013, as part of the celebration of the 75th NCAA Division I tournament, the championship games in both the NCAA Division II and Division III tournaments were played at Philips Arena, now known as State Farm Arena, in Atlanta.[1] From 2014 to 2018, the final game returned to Salem.[2] Currently, the Final Four is held in Fort Wayne, Indiana at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. For 2020 only, the national semifinals were to be played in Fort Wayne, but the championship game was to have returned to Atlanta, with the NCAA choosing to hold the championship games of both Divisions II and III as part of the festivities surrounding the men's Division I Final Four; however, the NCAA decided to abandon the tournament after the second round, 16 teams remaining.[3] The NCAA also canceled the 2021 tournament after a majority of D-III conferences chose not to play due to continued COVID-19 issues. Of teams and conferences that played, D3Hoops' top two ranked teams, No. 1 Randolph-Macon College and No. 2 Trine University, opted to play a self-organised mythical national championship game. Randolph-Macon won, 69-55.[4]

Trine is the defending national champion, beating Hampden–Sydney 69–61 in the 2024 championship.

Qualification

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Since 2023–24, a total of 64 bids have been available for each tournament:

  • 42 automatic bids, awarded to the champions of all Division III conferences.
  • 22 at-large bids.

Conference tournaments

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Schools in italics are, as of the current 2023–24 basketball season, no longer members of that specific conference.

NCAA Division III men's conference tournaments
Conference Tournament Most titles Current champion (2024)
Allegheny Mountain Tournament La Roche, Medaille, & Penn State Behrend (6) La Roche (6th)
American Rivers Tournament Buena Vista (7) Loras (3rd)
American Southwest Tournament Mississippi College & Texas–Dallas (5) Texas–Dallas (5th)
Atlantic East Tournament Marymount (2) Marymount (2nd)
Centennial Tournament Franklin & Marshall (8) Swarthmore (4th)
CUNYAC Tournament Staten Island (15) Baruch (6th)
Coast to Coast (C2C) Tournament Catholic (7) Christopher Newport (6th)
CCIW Tournament Augustana (6) Elmhurst (3rd)
CCS* Tournament Maryville (TN) (2) Maryville (TN) (2nd)
Commonwealth Coast Tournament Endicott (7) Roger Williams (3rd)
Empire 8 Tournament St. John Fisher (8) Utica (2nd)
Great Northeast Tournament Albertus Magnus (9) Saint Joseph (CT) (3rd)
Heartland Tournament Franklin & Hanover (6) Anderson (2nd)
Landmark Tournament Scranton (8) Catholic (3rd)
Liberty Tournament Skidmore (5) Hobart (3rd)
Little East Tournament UMass Dartmouth (12) Keene State (7th)
MASCAC Tournament Salem State (18) Worcester State (3rd)
Michigan Tournament Hope (15) Hope (15th)
MAC Commonwealth Tournaments Scranton (16) Eastern (1st)
MAC Freedom Stevens (3rd)
Midwest Tournament Ripon (8) Illinois College (3rd)
Minnesota Tournament St. Thomas (9) Gustavus Adolphus (4th)
NESCAC Tournament Amherst (8) Trinity (2nd)
NEWMAC Tournament Babson & MIT (6) Babson (6th)
NJAC Tournament Stockton (6) TCNJ (2nd)
North Atlantic Championship Husson (9) Husson (9th)
NCAC Tournament Wooster (16th) Wabash (3rd)
NACC Tournament Aurora (5) Wisconsin Lutheran (2nd)
Northwest Tournament Whitworth (16) Whitworth (16th)
Ohio Tournament Wittenberg (14) John Carroll (6th)
ODAC Tournament Hampden-Sydney (11) Hampden-Sydney (11th)
Presidents Tournament Bethany (6) Geneva (1st)
SLIAC Tournament Fontbonne (7) Fontbonne (7th)
Skyline Tournament Farmingdale State (7) Farmingdale State (7th)
SAA Tournament Berry (4) Berry (4th)
SCIAC Tournament Claremont–Mudd–Scripps (7) Claremont–Mudd–Scripps (7th)
SCAC Tournament Trinity (TX) (6) Centenary (LA) (2nd)
SUNYAC Tournament Buffalo State (15) New Paltz (1st)
United East Championship Morrisville State (5) Penn State Harrisburg (3rd)
UAA No tournament
UMAC Tournament Northwestern–St. Paul (13) Bethany Lutheran (4rd)
USA South Tournament Christopher Newport (15) Mary Baldwin
WIAC Tournament Wisconsin–Stevens Point (9) Wisconsin–Platteville (4th)

Defunct conferences

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Defunct NCAA Division III men's conference tournaments
Conference Tournament First year Last year Most titles
Colonial States Tournament 1994 2023 Cabrini (13)
NECC Tournament 2009 2023 Elms and Mitchell (4)

Summary

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NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship
Year Finals Site Championship Game Semifinalists Tournament MOP
(University)
Winner Score Runner-up
1975 Reading, Pennsylvania LeMoyne-Owen 57-54 Glassboro State Augustana (IL)
Brockport
Bob Newman
(LeMoyne-Owen)
1976 Scranton 60-57
(OT)
Wittenberg Augustana (IL)
Plattsburgh State
Jack Maher
(Scranton)
1977 Rock Island, Illinois Wittenberg 79-66 Oneonta State Scranton
Hamline
Rick White
(Wittenberg)
1978 North Park 69-57 Widener Albion
Stony Brook
Michael Harper
(North Park)
1979 North Park (2) 66-62 SUNY Potsdam Franklin & Marshall
Centre
Michael Harper
(North Park)
1980 North Park (3) 83-76 Upsala Wittenberg
Longwood
Michael Thomas
(North Park)
1981 Potsdam State 67-65
(OT)
Augustana (IL) Ursinus
Otterbein
Maxwell Artis
(Augustana (IL))
1982 Grand Rapids, Michigan Wabash 83-62 Potsdam State Brooklyn
Stanislaus State
Pete Metzelaars
(Wabash)
1983 Scranton (2) 64-63 Wittenberg Roanoke
Wisconsin-Whitewater
Bill Bessoir
(Scranton)
1984 Wisconsin-Whitewater 103-86 Clark (MA) DePauw
Upsala
Andre McKoy
(Wisconsin-Whitewater)
1985 North Park (4) 72-71 Potsdam State Nebraska Wesleyan
Widener
Earnest Hubbard
(North Park)
1986 Potsdam State (2) 76-73 LeMoyne-Owen Nebraska Wesleyan
New Jersey City
Roosevelt Bullock
(Potsdam State)
1987 North Park (5) 106-100 Clark (MA) Wittenberg
Richard Stockton
Michael Starks
(North Park)
1988 Ohio Wesleyan 92-70 Scranton Nebraska Wesleyan
Hartwick
Scott Tedder
(Ohio Wesleyan)
1989 Springfield, Ohio Wisconsin-Whitewater (2) 94-86 Trenton State Southern Maine
Centre
Greg Grant
(Trenton State)
1990 Rochester 43-42 DePauw Washington College
Calvin
Chris Fite
(Rochester)
1991 Wisconsin-Platteville 81-74 Franklin & Marshall Otterbein
Ramapo
Shawn Frison
(Wisconsin-Platteville)
1992 Calvin 62-49 Rochester Wisconsin-Platteville
New Jersey City
Steve Honderd
(Calvin)
1993 Buffalo, New York Ohio Northern 71-68 Augustana (IL) Rowan
UMass-Dartmouth
Kirk Anderson
(Augustana (IL))
1994 Lebanon Valley 66-59
(OT)
NYU Wittenberg
St. Thomas (MN)
Mike Rhoades/Adam Crawford
(Lebanon Valley/NYU)
1995 Wisconsin-Platteville (2) 69-55 Manchester (IN) Rowan
Trinity (CT)
Ernie Peavy
(Wisconsin-Platteville)
1996 Salem, Virginia Rowan 100-93 Hope Illinois Wesleyan
Franklin & Marshall
Terrence Stewart
(Rowan)
1997 Illinois Wesleyan 89-86 Nebraska Wesleyan Williams
Alvernia
Bryan Crabtree
(Illinois Wesleyan)
1998 Wisconsin-Platteville (3) 69-56 Hope Williams
Wilkes
Ben Hoffmann
(Wisconsin-Platteville)
1999 Wisconsin-Platteville (4) 76-75
(2OT)
Hampden-Sydney Connecticut College
William Paterson
Merrill Brunson
(Wisconsin-Platteville)
2000 Calvin (2) 79-74 Wisconsin-Eau Claire Salem State
Franklin & Marshall
Sherm Carstensen
(Wisconsin-Eau Claire)
2001 Catholic 76-62 William Paterson Illinois Wesleyan
Ohio Northern
Pat Maloney
(Catholic)
2002 Otterbein 102-83 Elizabethtown Carthage
Rochester
Jeff Gibbs
(Otterbein)
2003 Williams 67-65 Gustavus Adolphus Wooster
Hampden-Sydney
Benjamin Coffin
(Williams)
2004[5] Wisconsin-Stevens Point 84-82 Williams John Carroll
Amherst
Nick Bennett
(Wisconsin-Stevens Point)
2005 Wisconsin-Stevens Point (2) 73-49 Rochester Calvin
York (PA)
Jason Kalsow
(Wisconsin-Stevens Point)
2006 Virginia Wesleyan 59-56[6] Wittenberg Illinois Wesleyan
Amherst
Ton Ton Balenga
(Virginia Wesleyan)
2007 Amherst 80-67[7] Virginia Wesleyan Washington-St. Louis
Wooster
Andrew Olson
(Amherst)
2008 Washington-St. Louis 90-68 Amherst Hope
Ursinus
Troy Ruths
(Washington-St. Louis)
2009 Washington-St. Louis (2) 61-52[8] Richard Stockton Guilford
Franklin & Marshall
Sean Wallis
(Washington-St. Louis)
2010 Wisconsin-Stevens Point (3) 78-73[9] Williams Guilford
Randolph-Macon
Matt Moses
(Wisconsin-Stevens Point)
2011 St. Thomas (MN) 78-54[10] Wooster Middlebury
Williams
Tyler Nicolai
(St. Thomas (MN))
2012 Wisconsin-Whitewater (3) 63-60[11] Cabrini Illinois Wesleyan
MIT
Chris Davis
(Wisconsin-Whitewater)
2013 Atlanta, Georgia[a] Amherst (2) 87-70[12] Mary Hardin-Baylor St. Thomas (MN)
North Central (IL)
Allen Williamson
(Amherst)
2014 Salem, Virginia Wisconsin-Whitewater (4) 75-73[13] Williams Amherst
Illinois Wesleyan
K.J. Evans
(Wisconsin-Whitewater)
2015 Wisconsin-Stevens Point (4) 70-54 Augustana (IL) Babson
Virginia Wesleyan
Austin Ryf
(Wisconsin-Stevens Point)
2016 St. Thomas (MN) (2) 82-76 Benedictine Christopher Newport
Amherst
Taylor Montero
(St. Thomas (MN))
2017 Babson 79–78 Augustana (IL) Whitman
Williams
Joey Flannery
(Babson)
2018 Nebraska Wesleyan 78-72 Wisconsin-Oshkosh Ramapo
Springfield
Cooper Cook
(Nebraska Wesleyan)
2019 Fort Wayne, Indiana Wisconsin-Oshkosh 96-82 Swarthmore Christopher Newport
Wheaton (IL)
Jack Flynn
(Wisconsin-Oshkosh)
2020 Atlanta, Georgia[b] Abandoned after second round due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021 Fort Wayne, Indiana Not held because insufficient number of Division III schools played a season because of pandemic. A bowl-game style championship was organised by top two teams in D3Sports.com polls Randolph-Macon defeated Trine, 69-55, on campus in Ashland, VA.[14]
2022 Randolph-Macon 75-45 Elmhurst Marietta
Wabash
Buzz Anthony
(Randolph-Macon)
2023 Christopher Newport 74-72 Mount Union Wisconsin-Whitewater
Swarthmore
Trey Barber
(Christopher Newport)
2024 Trine 69-61 Hampden-Sydney Guilford
Trinity (CT)
Cortez Garland
(Trine)
2025
2026
Notes
  1. ^ Only the championship game was played in Atlanta. The semifinals were played at the then-traditional site of the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Virginia.
  2. ^ Only the championship game would have been played in Atlanta. The semifinals would have been played at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Locations

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Championships, by team

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North Park
UWSP
UWW
UWP
Amherst
Calvin
Potsdam
Scranton
WashU
Babson
Catholic
CNU
IWU
LVC
LeMoyne–Owen
NWU
ONU
OWU
Ott.
RMC
Rochester
Rowan
Trine
Virginia Wesleyan
Wabash
Williams
Witt.
UWO
National championships among active Division III programs:  5,   4,   3,   2,   1

Active programs

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Team Titles Years
North Park 5 1978, 1979, 1980, 1985, 1987
Wisconsin-Stevens Point} 4 2004, 2005, 2010, 2015
Wisconsin-Whitewater 4 1984, 1989, 2012, 2014
Wisconsin-Platteville 4 1991, 1995, 1998, 1999
Amherst 2 2007, 2013
Calvin 2 1992, 2000
Scranton 2 1976, 1983
SUNY Potsdam 2 1981, 1986
Washington-St. Louis 2 2008, 2009
Trine 1 2024
Christopher Newport 1 2023
Randolph-Macon 1 2022
Wisconsin-Oshkosh 1 2019
Nebraska Wesleyan 1 2018
Babson 1 2017
Virginia Wesleyan 1 2006
Williams 1 2003
Otterbein 1 2002
Catholic 1 2001
Illinois Wesleyan 1 1997
Rowan 1 1996
Lebanon Valley 1 1994
Ohio Northern 1 1993
Rochester 1 1990
Ohio Wesleyan 1 1988
Wabash 1 1982
Wittenberg 1 1977

Former programs

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Team Titles Years
St. Thomas (MN)[Note 1] 2 2011, 2016
LeMoyne-Owen[Note 2] 1 1975

Programs with at least 20 appearances in the Division III tournament

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  • List below only includes teams that are currently in Division III.
Bids School Conference First Bid Most Recent
30 Hope Michigan 1982 2024
30 Wittenberg North Coast 1975 2020
29 Scranton Landmark 1975 2023
29 Wooster North Coast 1978 2020
27 Christopher Newport Coast to Coast 1986 2024
26 Illinois Wesleyan CCIW 1984 2022
25 Franklin & Marshall Centennial 1975 2018
25 Salem State MASCAC 1980 2019
25 Washington–St. Louis UAA 1987 2024
23 Calvin Michigan 1980 2024
22 Wisconsin–Whitewater Wisconsin 1983 2023
20 Amherst NESCAC 1994 2019
20 Maryville (TN) CCS 1991 2019
20 Randolph–Macon Old Dominion 1990 2024
20 Williams NESCAC 1994 2024

Notes

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  1. ^ As of 2023–24, this school is a current member of NCAA Division I.
  2. ^ As of 2023–24, this school is a current member of NCAA Division II.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Success paves way for 75th celebration" (Press release). NCAA. May 10, 2012. Archived from the original on May 21, 2012. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
  2. ^ "Preliminary round sites announced for 2014, 2015 NCAA tournaments". NCAA. December 16, 2012. Archived from the original on May 11, 2013. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
  3. ^ "Combined championships for NCAA basketball planned" (Press release). NCAA. April 24, 2019. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
  4. ^ "EDITORIAL: Randolph-Macon wins mythical national title". Fredricksburg.com. (Fredricksburg) Free Lance-Star.
  5. ^ Kalsow comes through for Pointers - Men's College Basketball - ESPN
  6. ^ Balenga leads Virginia Wesleyan to title - Men's College Basketball - ESPN
  7. ^ Amherst notches first D-III basketball championship - Men's College Basketball - ESPN
  8. ^ Washington University repeats as Division-III champion - ESPN
  9. ^ Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointers rally to beat Williams College for DIII title - ESPN
  10. ^ St. Thomas pounds Wooster for NCAA Division III men's title - ESPN
  11. ^ Wisconsin-Whitewater wins D-III men's hoops crown - ESPN
  12. ^ 'Willy stuff' helps Amherst to Division III national title
  13. ^ "It's a family tradition at Whitewater; KJ Evans earns MOP, follows in uncle's footsteps". NCAA. NCAA.com. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  14. ^ "Randolph-Macon runs out to win in showdown". D3Sports.com. Presto Sports. Retrieved 2021-09-26.
  15. ^ "Division III Men's Basketball Championship" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA.org. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
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